


Zayn's Adventures in Wonderland

by RNard



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Conspiracy, Danger, Drama, Flirting, Humor, M/M, Magic, Mystery, Romance, Seduction, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, featuring Zayn as Alice, sexual tenstion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:20:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3516911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RNard/pseuds/RNard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice in Wonderland AU. “How do you know I’m mad?” Zayn asked.</p><p>“You must be mad," Louis said. "Or you wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Chapter Text**

_I would_ , Zayn thought. _Choose one in the morning to go out for a smoke at the park_.

He swept his eyes over the empty park. There was not a single soul in sight. Zayn shifted in his seat on the bench. He breathed in the fresh air and looked up at the sky. The weather had been pretty cool in LA recently, which he appreciated. Minutes of peaceful silence passed before Zayn stood up. He took one last drag from his cigarette and then he threw the stick onto the ground and crushed it under his combat boot.

Craving satisfied, Zayn was ready to walk back home, when he spotted a white, fluffy ball in the corner of his eye. 

It was hard to tell for sure what it was because it was dark, but it looked like a rabbit. A wild rabbit hopping around in LA wasn’t something Zayn saw every day, so he decided to follow the animal out of curiosity and boredom. The small animal hopped into the forest behind the park and Zayn followed suit. 

If the little angel and devil in cartoons were real, the little angel on his shoulder would be doing a face palm right now. Zayn was all too familiar with this forest. Since Zayn could remember, this specific forest had been linked to conspiracy theories and it had always been one of the most heavily covered subjects on the news. When a person went missing in the area, the first question that was usually asked by authorities was 'did so and so go into the forest?' and the answer that often followed was 'yes'.

For over 50 years or so, people who have ventured into the forest have disappeared without a trace. In the past, people or search groups have gone into forest only to disappear. This fueled the paranoia and superstition that was already clouding over the people.

There have been many known attempts to burn down the forest. It wasn't until the lifeless body of a man who had tried to set fire to the woods was found that the attempts ceased. This cemented the idea that the forest was cursed  and people learned to stay away.

Zayn wasn't exactly superstitious. He wasn't looking to be another statistic or missing person on the news, but he figured that he wasn't going to go far enough into the forest to get lost in it.

He zipped up his hoodie and proceeded to follow the forest path. Zayn turned on the flashlight app on his phone. It didn't really help, but whatever. He could faintly make out the rabbit digging in the dirt from a distance. He kept walking closer. When Zayn was sure that he was standing over the same spot the rabbit was, he looked around. There was no sight of any rabbit.

"Huh, that's strange." Zayn said, puzzled.

There was a freshly made hole in the ground. It was big. Zayn could probably jump in it. The was pitch black so he wasn't sure how deep it was.

_How did the rabbit manage to dig this so fast?_

Zayn turned up the intensity of the light on his phone and he kneeled down to further inspect the hole. 

As if it had a mind of its own, an abnormally strong burst of wind came out of nowhere and pushed him in. Zayn slipped and he yelled out in surprise. He was falling down the hole and then everything went black.

 

* * *

 

Zayn woke up on the ground.

The sun attacked his eyes and he blinked rapidly to adjust to the morning brightness. It was dark when he went into the forest. Did he pass out all night? His whole body ached and when he tried to sit up too fast, he groaned out in pain.

He remembered going to the park late at night to have a smoke. Then he followed the white rabbit into the forest. He didn't find the rabbit, but he found a big hole. Then it started to get strangely windy and he lost his footing and fell down the hole.

He pulled out his phone. Oddly, the time was beyond screwed up; the numbers had turned into letters. That was new. He tried to make a call but there was no signal in the forest.

He got up slowly and surveyed his surroundings. Zayn looked to his side, but the large rabbit hole was no longer there. The path that he had followed into the forest was gone, and it left Zayn wondering how a path could up and disappear on its own like that. There were only lots of trees, grass and colourful flowers around him. 

"Great." Zayn mumbled to no one.

"I'm late, I'm late!" A voice cried.

Zayn tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't fash enough. A blond boy ran straight into Zayn, knocking him back into the ground. 

"What the motherfuck!?"

Zayn was pissed. His head was throbbing and this idiot had crashed into him hard. He was about to give the other person a piece of his mind but he stopped. The boy who had bumped into him looked around his age. A look of sheer terror was on is face. Zayn knew how intimidating he looked when he was mad. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Hey look, I didn't mean to shout. I'm not going to hurt you, yeah?"

Zayn stood up and offered his hand to the other lad, who took it hesitantly. Zayn pulled the other boy up. The blue eyed boy looked like he was about to break down in tears. 

"Sorry, I should've watched where I was going. It’s just.. I'm really, really late for a very important date."

The blond boy sniffed. Zayn sighed and patted the other lad's back gently.

"It's cool, mate. Take a deep breath." 

"No, no it's not! He's going to have my head like the past messengers. Literally!" The blond boy mumbled as his face went green.

"You're a messenger?" The image of a rich, impatient man sipping on expensive champagne, living in seclusion deep in the woods for unknown reasons, with a gold bathtub filled with money popped up in his mind. Zayn shook his head. "Uh, what do you mean he's going to have your head? I don't think it's legal to cut off heads around here, mate." 

"He has done it before. I've seen it!" Niall said.

Zayn's eyes widened. _Okay, this is getting weird_ , he thought.

"What are you late for?" Zayn wanted to add 'in the middle of a forest that's rumoured to be cursed', but he didn't.

"I have an urgent message to deliver to the King." Niall replied quietly. "I got lost on the way and I'm now I'm late. I was on the right path but I was tricked. God, why did I listen to Louis?"

"The King?" Zayn repeated. "We don't have a king in LA, mate."

"L-A? What's LA?" The boy asked, wrinkling his nose. "This is Wonderland."

Before Zayn could respond, the blond lad began to jump up and down in excitement.

“Oh, I think that's a short cut to the castle!” He exclaimed. The excited blond took Zayn's hand and quickly shook it. "Me name's Niall. It was nice chatting with you, Zayn. Wish me luck!"

Zayn stared after the boy and shook his head confusion. Right, so back to the mission at hand: find a way out of this annoying forest. Zayn decided to screw his old plan, which was to find the path that he had took into the woods. He did eeny, meeny, miny, moe. His finger landed on the trees to his right, so he began to walk in that direction.

It took Zayn almost ten minutes to realize that he never once told Niall his name and that the blond boy was wearing realistic rabbit ears and a tail.

 

* * *

 

Zayn walked further and further into the forest. He cursed because this was what he was trying to avoid: walking deeper into the forest. After forever of walking past trees, trees, and more trees, Zayn found himself growing agitated. He wasn't even sure if he was getting anywhere close to an exit.

After passing more trees, Zayn noticed that straight ahead that there was clearing. When the clearing came closer to view, Zayn could see a single log sitting in the center of the open space. The sun was shining on the log like a spotlight shining on an actor on stage.

He had an uneasy feeling about this, but Zayn kept walking ahead. He approached the log with caution. He had watched enough shows about survival in the wild to know that nothing was safe here. Also, it was odd how the log was the only thing in the clearing. With further inspection, nothing about the log seemed to jump out at him. 

"Hey, mate. Do you have a warrant to inspect my log?"

Zayn jumped and turned around to face the speaker. No one was there. 

"Fuck this, am I tripping or?" Zayn trailed off.

"Or what?" The same voice answered. "Up here."

Zayn looked up. High up in a tree was a lad dressed in a black tank top and skinny jeans. He had a fringe and soft caramel hair. The boy looked at Zayn curiously and raised his left eyebrow.  

"How did you even get up there, bro?" Zayn asked.

Part of Zayn was impressed at how high the lad was up in the tree and other part of him was worried that the guy was going to fall to his death.

The other boy flashed Zayn a mischievous smile. It reminded him of a Cheshire cat's smile and it gave Zayn chills.

"I ask the questions here. Do you or do you not have a warrant to inspect my log, my good sir?"

"I didn't exactly know it was your log, mate." Zayn answered, returning the attitude. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, sassy, aren't you? Take a closer look."

Zayn kept giving the other young man a distrustful stare. Did this guy seriously think Zayn was going to listen to anything he had to say? The lad in the tree, who was now kicking his legs back and forth, spoke up as if he had read Zayn's mind.

"It's not going to come to life, y'know."

Zayn rolled his eyes and scanned the log. There was a name engraved in the wood that he could have sworn was not there before.

"Louis?" he read. Zayn pronounced it as "Lewis".

"Right, and for future reference, it's pronounced as 'Lou-E'." The boy in the tree smirked. "So, who are you?"

"None of your business, yeah?" Zayn snapped.

He was done with this bullshit day. He was tired and covered in dirt. All he wanted was to go home, shower, snuggle under his covers, and sleep for the whole day. He kept walking into the forest, ignoring Louis, who silently watched him from the tree. 

To Zayn's surprise, after a couple minutes of walking, he soon found himself standing in what looked like the same clearing. There was a sole log. When Zayn looked at the piece of wood, he froze. The log had 'Louis' etched in it.

He was back where he had started.

Louis, who was somehow sitting on the branch of another tree, looked down at Zayn in amusement.

"Oh, look who it is. Back so soon, _Mystery_?" Louis asked.

"What's going on? How the fuck is this possible?" Zayn asked.

"Don't have to swear, mate. This forest is like a maze and people get lost all the time." Louis stroked his chin thoughtfully and grinned. "If you want, I suppose I could show you the way out."

"Why should I trust you?" Zayn sat down on the log and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"That's a bit bloody offensive, to be honest. Sure, I like to push people's buttons and pull pranks that make 'em want to rip their hair out at times, but I'm a man of my word."

Zayn looked up to find Louis hanging upside down from the tree with his arms crossed over his chest. Zayn didn't even bother asking how the other lad was doing that. He was convinced that all of this wasn't real and that he was going to wake up any second now.

"Alright, mate. What's the catch? My right eyeball?" Zayn asked dryly. He began to pick at one of the rips in his skinny jeans.

Louis made a face.

"What would I do with your right eyeball? Your left eyeball, on the other hand.." Louis trailed off with a grin. Zayn stopped pulling at the threads around the tear and looked up at Louis. The boy's face was so pale that Louis could not hold in his laugh. "I'm just messing with ya. That's gross and I have no use for your eyeballs."

The colour slowly returned to Zayn's face. 

"Okay, so you don't want my eyeballs. What do you want from me?"

"All I want is your name, Mystery." Louis said cheerily.

Zayn sighed. It didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon, so he guessed that he might as well play along and see where this dream leads.

"It's Zayn." 

"See Zayn, was that so hard?" Louis teased. The boy snapped his fingers and suddenly, the trees parted and a path that was definitely not there before, appeared to Zayn's left. Startled, Zayn pushed himself off the log and took a few steps back. "Go down this path. It will lead you out of the forest." 

Zayn closed his mouth when the shock wore off. He blinked and looked up to find that Louis had disappeared from up in the tree. 

"I like you, so here's a warning." 

Zayn let out a small scream.

"Can you stop with the fucking teleporting?" Zayn asked between gritted teeth.

Louis was sitting cross-legged on the log that Zayn had been sitting on moments before. Louis was trying to hold back another loud laugh as he regarded Zayn with a little twinkle in his eye.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Louis said with a shrug. "Now, about that warning. The King knows you're here. He's looking for you." Louis finished in a serious tone.

"Mate, we're in LA. We don't have a king." Zayn said in frustration for the second time in less than 24 hours. Zayn was seriously considering printing the phrase 'we don't have a king in LA, mate' on t-shirts when he got out of here. He ran a hand through his hair, which was probably a mess and sticking out in all directions. "So, what's this guy's deal? Why is he looking for me?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you're not in LA anymore." Louis said, making quotation marks with his fingers when he said 'LA'. "Well, the King likes to greet all of the new visitors.. personally." 

The way Louis said the word 'personally' didn't sit well with Zayn. It sounded really ominous. 

"He wants to greet me personally?" Zayn echoed. The young man thought back to his encounter with the blond boy, Niall.

_"He's going to have my head like the past messengers. Literally!"_

"Hold on." Zayn said, trying to remain calm. He shook his head in disbelief and turned to face Louis. "He wants to fucking kill me, doesn't he?"

"Oh, was I that obvious?" Louis asked, inspecting his nails casually. 

"Louis!" 

"What?" The brown haired boy asked. "It's true! And it's 'Lou-E', not 'Lewis'."

Zayn rolled his eyes and groaned. He looked up at the clouds and then back at Louis.

"Is everyone here fucking mad?" 

"Yes, as a matter of fact. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

“How do you know I’m mad?” Zayn asked.

Louis laughed.         

“You must be mad," Louis said. "Or you wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”

"Yeah, I guess. Whatever."

Zayn couldn't come up with a comeback. Louis was right. He should've just went straight home to his bed after his smoke. Zayn slapped a hand over his eyes to block out the glaring sun and groaned. Fuck, he could really use another smoke right now. 

"Okay, so I'm in danger and this guy -The King of LA - is out to hunt and kill me. Why the fuck would he want to do that?" Zayn asked. "Am I on this guy’s private property or something? I don't even want to be here. I'd kindly fuck off if I knew the way out.”

Louis opened his mouth to answer, but Zayn cut him off and continued his rant. 

“It wasn’t like I asked to be knocked out in the middle of the forest. I woke up here. In fact, I don't even know where 'here' is."

"Surely, someone's told you by now.” Louis said. “You're in Wonderland."

"Yeah, so I've been told, but what does that even mean? This isn't  _Alice in Wonderland_. I'm not in a fairy-tale. You, and all of this," Zayn gestured to Louis and then to the forest all around them. "Are all part of a really bad dream or a bad trip I'm having, so which is it?"

Louis scratched his head at the conclusion of Zayn's elaborate rant.

"Man, you're in denial. It's to be expected, though." Louis said, shaking his head. "Better face the music, Zayny. This is real. The sooner you accept that this is real, the better your chances at survival will be."

Zayn kicked a nearby rock with his boot. 

“How do I know this isn’t some messed up dream?”

“When you die in your dreams, you wake up." Louis said. "When you die in Wonderland, you never wake up.”

Zayn was almost at his limit. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He pinched himself multiple times but nothing happened. To be honest, somewhere in his conversation with Louis, he knew that this wasn't like any dream or nightmare he had ever had. It felt too real.

The reality that he was awake crashed into him like the ocean.

A hand clapped onto his shoulder. Zayn turned around to face Louis, who looked genuinely sympathetic.

“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Zayn asked, even though he knew what the answer was deep down in his heart.

"No, you’re not." Louis said. Zayn's face fell and and the other lad sighed. "Listen, Zayn. I don't normally intervene with the King’s affairs, but like I said, I like you. You've got this fire in you. It reminds me of me."

Zayn, who had been frowning and avoiding eye contact, looked up at this. He gave Louis a small smile, which Louis returned.

"This is turning into some sappy shit, huh? You better get going, mate. It’s not safe here anymore. When you reach the end of the path, you'll see a curly haired lad with lots of tattoos wearing a crazy hat that’s ridiculously tall. You can't miss him. Oh, and he'll be drinking tea." 

Zayn didn't know what to say.

"I-" Zayn licked his lips. "Thank you, Louis." He said sincerely.

"Aww, you said my name right." Louis teased. Zayn flushed, mumbled ‘shut up’ and flipped Louis off. "I hate to cut our moment short like this, but I’m not joking, Mystery. You better get a move on before the King's lackeys come. I’ll close the path and try to distract them as long as I can so you can get a head start."

Zayn’s lips lifted at the nickname, but he grew concerned at what Louis said.

“Will you be alright?”

“Is that concern I hear? Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. I know these woods like the back of my hand. The King couldn’t touch me even if he wanted to. Wait. That sounded really wrong. Shit, you know what I mean.” Louis said. 

Zayn laughed and did a mock salute, which Louis returned with a grin.

The boy quickly followed the cleared pathway through the forest until he reached the end. It wasn't until Zayn had made it safely to the other side, that he looked back.

When he turned around, the path was gone and so was Louis.


	2. The Mad Hatter

Zayn didn’t have to walk very far to find the man Louis was talking about. 

A curly haired lad was sitting alone in front of the longest table Zayn had ever seen in his life. The young man was wearing a loose, short sleeved black top that was sheer and halfway unbuttoned, showing off his tattoos - not that Zayn was staring or anything - and tight, striped pants. Louis' description was pretty spot on. The lad was even drinking tea like the prankster had predicted.

The young man was sitting in an old green armchair. As Zayn got closer, he regarded the tall top hat with curiousity. Besides its unmistakable height, what stood out about the hat was the white scarf with the black skull pattern, for it was wrapped multiple times around the hat and it flowed down.

The young man's eyebrows were knitted and he had one leg rested casually over the other knee. He was reading a book in one hand and he had a cup of tea in the other. He was so engrossed in his book that he did not even notice or acknowledge Zayn. 

"Uh, hi." Zayn said. He cleared his throat to get the other man's attention.

The stranger in the chair moved his attention from his book onto Zayn. The most beautiful green eyes bore intensely into his and the moment their eyes connected felt electric. The shade of green had so many different elements to it. It was like a bright forest green with specks of gold under the sun. Zayn was getting sick of seeing green from wandering in the forest all day, but he honestly wouldn’t mind looking a little into longer into the stranger's striking eyes.

"What a pleasure. You must be Zayn." The man practically purred his name. "I'm Harry." 

Alarm bells instantly went off in his head. Harry was fit and he was Zayn's type with his bright green eyes, dimples, a nice smile, curly hair, a deep, sexy voice, and tattoos. 

"Nice to meet you, Harry." Zayn replied.

His jumbled thoughts made his voice sound robotic, even to his ears. Breaking eye contact, he searched for a distraction.

Zayn's eyes quickly zeroed in on the necklaces dangling over Harry's neck. His eyes trailed down the chains to the pendants resting on Harry's chest, which proved to be a mistake because it sparked a chain reaction. Zayn's eyes went from the chains to drinking in the two swallow bird tattoos on Harry's collar bones. His eyes swept even lower and he took in every inch of the exposed skin from Harry's unbuttoned shirt. His hazel eyes traced and took in all the ink that he could map out through the sheer fabric.

After Zayn had his eyeful, he tried to play it cool. He directed his gaze down the 30ft long table and scanned the different teapots and teacups that were scattered. Everything was fine until he locked eyes with Harry again.

The curly haired lad was smirking and regarding Zayn with a knowing look. He had tried to be inconspicuous, but it seemed like Harry had managed to catch Zayn checking him out red-handed. Zayn wished that a black hole or even the huge rabbit hole that he fell in would appear and swallow him up where he stood.

"Would you like some tea?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, thank you." Zayn said politely.

Harry nodded. He gave an appreciative glance over Zayn and smirked over his cup of tea. 

"Louis told me to expect company. Although, he didn't mention how pretty you were."

Zayn flushed. Was Harry seriously flirting with him or was it just wishful thinking?

Harry set his book down on the table, which was seriously a mess. It looked like Harry had thrown an elaborate tea party recently. The table was littered with tea cups, teapots, plates and cutlery. There were a number of large tea stains on the white tablecloth. 

"You're quite pretty yourself." Zayn said with a nod. "I'd like to know what it's like to have such luscious, curly hair." 

Harry threw his head back against the chair and laughed. 

"Sorry to disappoint you, Zayn, but I doubt you'll get to know what it's like to have luscious curls." Harry teased lightly.

"Damn," Zayn said, placing a hand over his chest in mock hurt. "Way to dash my dreams, babe."

"You didn't let me finish." Harry smirked, uncrossing his legs. "It's your lucky day. If you play your cards right, you might get to know what it's like to pull these curls in bed."

Harry bit his lower lip sensually and sucked. Zayn stared in absolute shock. He was certain that his wide eyes and open mouth made his overall expression comical. Harry eventually stopped sucking on his lip, allowing Zayn to recover some of his composure.

"So,” Zayn began. He licked his lips. "Louis told me you could help me get out of Australia? I mean LA. No, I mean Wonderland. Yeah." Zayn finished lamely. 

 _Where the hell did Australia come from?_ he thought.

Zayn blamed everything on Harry's mastery of intimidating stares. 

The corner of Harry's lips twitched upward and he carefully set his tea down.

"Actually, there's been a change of plans." Harry drawled. "Our King has requested that I bring you to him."

Zayn's face fell. He must have heard that wrong.

"Bring me to the King? You're going to turn me in." Zayn asked, although it sounded more like a statement and not a question.

_Harry and Louis were working for the King all along?_

Harry stood up so that he was face to face with Zayn. They were around the same height but Harry's hat gave him an advantage. Also, Harry's boots had a slight heel and it gave him some extra height over Zayn.

"It’s nothing personal. It was our plan all along, really." Harry explained. "Trick you, turn you in, Louis and I split the King's reward.."

A thousand thoughts danced through Zayn's mind. Maybe he could make a run for it. Harry's fit body said that he was most likely a runner; but seriously, Harry couldn't possibly catch Zayn while wearing those gold heeled boots, right?

 _Think, Zayn. I can make a run for it. Where would I run to, though? Louis closed the path behind me_ , he thought with dread.

Suddenly, Harry leaned in, startling Zayn out his thoughts. For a brief second, Zayn was almost convinced that Harry was going to kiss him because of how close they were, but he didn't.

“Oh," Harry said lowly, his eyes shining with mirth. "Louis was right. You are quite gullible.” 

"Louis said that I was gullible?" Zayn asked, confusedly.

"Mhmm," Harry nodded in amusement, a smile forming on his lips.

"I-" Realization slowly hit Zayn. When the truth dawned on him, he growled in disbelief. "Fuck, you were just messing with me?"

Harry nodded some more and swiftly slapped a hand over his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his fits of laughter. Zayn crossed his arms and glared at Harry. When the other lad had settled down and managed to somewhat control his laughter, he spoke.

"Sorry, I suppose that was a rather rude joke." Harry said without looking sorry at all.

“You suppose? I almost had a fucking heart attack, you prick!" Zayn exclaimed.

"Oh no, that would be a shame." Harry said with seriousness. "You can relax. I don't plan on taking you to the King. After all, it's not a secret that the King's welcome gift to outsiders is the gift of eternal silence. In other words, they’re taken to the castle and executed."

"I got that bit of the memo earlier." Zayn said. "What I don't get is how he's been getting away with this for so long. Everyone knew that this has been going on for years behind closed doors, yet they're sitting back and letting this so called King execute all the clueless outsiders. Why hasn't anyone done anything to stop him?" 

A dark expression cast over Harry's face. Zayn watched in amazement and horror as a reddish gold colour swirled into the forest green eyes, taking them over. The sky, as if reflecting Harry's dark mood, had turned grey, cloudy and muddy. 

"It's not like that." Harry said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Don't you think we've tried to save them? We don't intervene anymore because the King eventually found out what we were doing. He threatened all of the subjects and enforced a new law, which decreed that anyone who was caught helping an outsider escape would be labelled a traitor and executed. Also, it's inevitable. No visitor has ever escaped Wonderland alive since the King took over."

"I see," Zayn said, barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to judged you and the others like that. I didn’t know the whole story and it was unfair of me."

Zayn watched silently as the brilliant green swam back into Harry's eyes, replacing the reddish gold. The sky slowly cleared and the sun enveloped them both in its light and warmth again.

“Apology accepted.” Harry said with a sigh. He ran his hand through his curls before giving Zayn a little smile. "I can tell that wasn't your intention, Zayn."

Zayn returned the smile. He didn’t like seeing Harry upset. Seeing Harry like this - smiling playfully with his piercing eyes - made Zayn feel some type of warmth that was indescribable.

"So, if execution is inevitable, then why are you helping me?"

"You're worth trying for, Zayn." Harry said, looking away. Zayn wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but it looked like Harry was blushing.

"Thank you." He whispered.

Zayn was truly grateful for Harry's help. He was thankful for Louis' help too. They were putting their lives at risk for him, which was more than he could ever ask from total strangers. Zayn couldn't help but feel a brewing anger and sadness for all of the visitors before him, though. He desperately wanted answers.

He lay down on the soft bed of grass and flowers in the middle of the field. Harry sat down in a cross-legged position beside him. The flowers swayed around them.

"Was the King always like this?" Zayn asked, looking up at the clouds.

“No, he wasn’t actually.” Harry answered. “When Prince Payne accepted the title ‘King of Wonderland’, he promised to carry on his father’s legacy and to treat everyone with respect.”  
  
“What happened to Prince Payne's father, the old King of Wonderland?”

“He grew ill and passed away. No one was expecting it, especially his son. The Prince was devastated; however, he had little time to grieve since he had to take his father’s place on the throne as the new ruler of Wonderland.” Harry said. The sympathy was audible in his voice.

Zayn also felt himself feeling sympathy for the young prince.

 _Could his father’s sudden death and the pressures that came with his title as the new King pushed this young man to madness?_ Zayn thought.

“The young King kept his promises at first. Like his father, he allowed visitors in Wonderland to freely roam the forests at their leisure and leave when they wished. The visitors were never held captive or executed. The young King treated all of the subjects, not just royalty, with respect. He would throw elaborate parties and welcome all into his palace, even the outsiders."

Zayn had started to pluck the colourful flowers around his head. He started to make a small pile on his chest. Harry joined in and silently helped Zayn pluck some flowers. He would dramatically throw the flowers on top of Zayn, causing him to chuckle. The flowers vibrated on his chest and some even fell down since Harry had made him laugh so hard. Zayn had to try and maintain his composure, which proved to be difficult around a free spirit like Harry.

"When did the executions begin?" Zayn asked curiously.

“I think they started almost 50 years ago? Don't quote me on that though." Harry said.

A chill traveled down Zayn’s spine. It would make sense, since this was around the time when people from home began to go missing. Harry looked down at Zayn with curious eyes, but didn’t press him and continued.

"The strangest thing is when the executions started, the King stopped making public appearances. He closed his castle off to everyone and closed himself off completely. The subjects who work inside the castle are never allowed to leave."

"So if you go in the castle, you never come out.” Zayn said. “What do you think goes on in there?”

"Nothing good. That’s for sure." Harry said grimly. He stretched his long legs out in front of him. "No one knows for certain what goes on in the castle. It’s forbidden to talk about it. The only way to get into the castle is with permission or an invitation from the King, which is impossible.”

"Impossible?" Zayn echoed. "Hey, do you have floral wire by any chance?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the random request. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, there was wire dangling from his hands. Harry gently dropped the wire into Zayn’s cupped hands.

Zayn’s jaw dropped and he looked up at Harry in disbelief.

“How did you do that?"

Harry shrugged as if he didn’t just magically make wire appear in his hands.

"This small area of this forest is mine. I feed off the forest’s energy and it feeds off mine, so I can conjure little things out of thin air. It only works when I’m in this part of the woods." Harry said.

Zayn nodded in awe and began to test the wire to make sure it was real. Zayn was so fascinated, that Harry could not hide his fond smile. When he was finished with his little experiment, Zayn picked up flowers from the small pile sitting on his chest and he began to weave them together.

"To answer your earlier question, if you're from Wonderland, the only way to get access in and out of the castle is if you're the King's messenger. The King only gives invitations to outsiders so he can execute them. That's why it's impossible. Try trespassing or sneaking in and you'll be executed on the spot." Harry said. 

"The King's messenger? You mean Niall?" Zayn asked.

Harry looked surprised. He nodded.

"You've met Nialler? Nice lad, isn't he? He's quite gullible. Worse than you, I think. Louis loves to prank him and he always gives Niall the wrong directions to the castle. I told him to cut it out, but it's Louis and he listens to no one." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Nice lad." Zayn agreed. "Niall was genuinely worried about losing his head to the King when I met him. He told me that he was late to the castle because of Louis. Maybe he should quit it before the kid actually loses his head, yeah?" 

Harry didn’t seem too concerned and his gave Zayn a small smile.

"Niall wasn't late. He just thought he was. Louis has been messing with Niall's pocket watch for a while now, but the poor lad hasn't caught on yet."

"Well, if Louis doesn't stop then I'll tell the poor lad myself." Zayn said, making a face at the thing he was working on. "Finally, it's finished."

"What's that?" Harry asked, leaning in. He was intrigued.

"It's a flower crown. My sisters showed me how to make it last summer. I didn't think that their tutorial would ever been useful, to be honest." Zayn said.

He sat up and motioned for Harry to come closer, which he did. Zayn frowned, pointing at Harry's hat.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You have to take your hat off, Harry."

Harry huffed, mumbled a 'fine' and took his hat off, setting it in his lap. Harry bowed his head and Zayn gently set the crown on top of his curly, chestnut hair. When Harry sat upright, Zayn leaned back to admire his work. The doe-eyed boy looked so adorable that Zayn couldn’t help but smile.

"You're a prince, Harry."

Harry was definitely blushing now. He averted his gaze away to the side before shyly meeting Zayn’s eyes.

"Thanks, Zayn. I love it." Harry smiled, showing his dimples.

"Anytime, babe." Zayn said, tucking Harry’s hair behind his ears.

"Okay, it’s my turn.” Harry said excitedly. “Close your eyes."

Zayn did as Harry requested. He had just met the curly haired lad, but for some reason, he trusted Harry and he wanted Harry to know that he could trust Zayn. A few seconds ticked by before Zayn felt something tickling his wrist.

"Alright, you can look." 

Zayn opened his eyes and raised his wrist up to his eyes. There was a single, delicate flower bracelet circling his wrist. Zayn could tell that the bracelet was also made from the flowers in the field they were sitting in.

"Sorry I didn't make it from scratch like you did.” Harry said softly. “I’m not exactly artsy, so I conjured it.”

Zayn brushed over the flower petals using his other hand.

"It's perfect, Harry. Thank you."

Harry beamed at Zayn’s compliment.

"I'm glad you like it." The sun seemed to shine brighter at Harry's words.

Minutes of peaceful silence passed by between the two before Zayn spoke.

"Harry, I’ve decided. I don't just want to escape this place. I want to find out what's really going on inside the castle. You and the others shouldn't be living in misery under a killer who rules his people using fear.” Zayn said. “Also, if I leave it like this, people from home will continue to go missing."

"Please listen carefully to what you’re saying, Zayn. Are you sure you want to go in there and risk your life? You might not like what you see." Harry said darkly. "There's probably a lot more than head chopping going on in that castle."

"I don't care. I want the truth.” he said with determination. “The lying, the secrecy, the killing.. It all has to stop. How did this place turn into such a screwed up mess?"

"I know," Harry agreed sadly. "We're not monsters, Zayn."

"No, you're not." Zayn agreed, captivated by the gold swirling in Harry’s eyes. "But you're all bloody mad."

"It's true. We're all mad here." Harry confirmed with a sigh. "Well, if you're sure you want to find out the truth, then I'm coming with you." 

"Harry, you don't have to." Zayn said. He didn't want to put Harry at risk.

"I want to. Wonderland is my home." Harry said in a fixed tone that left little room for argument.

During their conversation, Harry's flower crown went slightly crooked. Zayn shook his head and moved in to straighten the crown. Somehow, he ended up knocking Harry back into the soft lush grass.

Zayn gasped when he landed on top of Harry. His gaze drifted from Harry's wide eyes to his lips. Harry mirrored the boy on top of him and licked his lips. Forest green eyes flickered from Zayn’s hazel eyes to his mouth until he couldn't take it anymore. Harry growled and closed the distance separating their lips. Zayn returned the kiss hungrily and he moaned when he grounded his hips down into Harry's.

Harry took one of Zayn’s hands and slipped it under his shirt. Harry’s skin was hot to the touch and Zayn was burning up. Zayn’s other hand ran through Harry’s curls, tugging them softly. Zayn ran his hand over Harry’s chest and  swiped  his thumb over Harry’s nipple. Harry shivered and let out a delicious moan into the kiss that went straight to Zayn’s groin.

When they broke apart for air, they were both breathing heavily. Zayn took in Harry's rosy cheeks, pink lips and dark eyes, which were clouded with lust. Harry's eyes had changed into a alluring black-green colour. As much as he wanted to take things further, Zayn knew this wasn’t right the time or place.

Harry, who seemed to have read Zayn's mind, squeezed his hand and slowly removed it from under his shirt. Zayn groaned in frustration and leaned down, resting chin on top of Harry's shoulder.

“Do you know how fucking hot you are?” Zayn whispered hotly against Harry's neck.

"Look who's talking, pretty boy. You're gorgeous." Harry murmured.

Zayn chuckled and pressed a kiss against Harry's neck before getting off of him. Zayn stood up and offered a hand to Harry to help him up.

"So, what’s the plan? How exactly are we going to get into the castle?" Zayn asked. “We don't have an invitation and sneaking in is out of the question, yeah?”

"Back to business so soon?" Harry teased. "In case you’ve forgotten, we do have an invitation to the castle. The King is looking for you, so we can use that as an excuse to get in."

"That's brilliant, Harry." 

"Thank you, thank you very much. Please hold the applause." Harry said with a grin.

He lifted his flower crown and made an elaborate bow before setting his crown back in place.

"Last chance to back out, Zayn. We can help you find your way home and you can continue on with your life like this never happened."

"No way, I'm not running away from this." Zayn said firmly. "I think I should do this alone, though. I don't want to put you in anymore danger, Harry."

"I said I was coming with you, didn't I?"

"Harry, we could go mad in there. We could die." 

"Then let's go crazy together." Harry said unwaveringly. "Are you trying to get rid of me? Like it or not, there are no take-backs. You're stuck with me."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow challengingly at Zayn, who sighed. Zayn could tell that Harry's mind was made up.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, partner." Zayn said truthfully, a smile forming on his lips. "Right, let's go pay his royal highness a little visit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Harry finally meet! What do you think is going on in King Payne's creepy castle?


	3. The King of Wonderland

The walk to the castle was eventful.

Harry found that besides being easy on the eyes, Zayn was really artistic and he liked to draw, sketch and paint in his spare time. Zayn found that Harry was very charming and that he liked to tell bad jokes - particularly ones about bananas - but he didn’t have the heart to tell him how unfunny they were.

“Okay, what do you call a banana that leaves the bunch due to artistic differences?” Harry asked, his green eyes sparkling.

“I don't know.” Zayn answered honestly.

“A banana split!" Harry said, laughing at his own joke. “Because the banana left the bunch. Get it?”

Zayn groaned and ran a hand over his face. If he had to endure another banana joke, he was probably going go mad like the King of LA. Zayn was able to listen to a few more jokes and puns before he cracked and told Harry ‘please babe, no more jokes, alright?’.

Harry nodded and went unusually quiet for a period of time. Zayn didn’t like seeing Harry sulk, so he reached out, took Harry’s hand into his, and intertwined their fingers.

Harry, who had been focusing on the forest floor, looked up at Zayn in surprise and then to their hands. Harry’s eyes lit up. He started swinging their joined hands as they walked, making Zayn laugh softly.

“So, I take it you’re done brooding?” Zayn asked.

Harry's lips curved upwards but he didn’t answer. Instead, he bumped into Zayn’s side. They both smiled for the rest of the journey to the castle.

 

* * *

Zayn gazed up in awe at the stone castle. It was massive and impressive. All of the photographs of castles that he had ever seen in books and on television didn't do any justice. The pair walked up the stone steps and approached the entrance. When they got to the top of the stairs, they saw two guards dressed in armour on either side of the large double doors.

The king’s guards were holding double ended spears. One end of the spear was shaped like a heart and the other end was shaped like a spade. The guards held up their weapons. Zayn was getting nervous and he felt his heart beat faster in his chest. He looked at Harry, who seemed calm and collected. Harry looked to Zayn, as if sensing his discomfort, and squeezed his hand in reassurance.

Seeing Harry calm put Zayn at ease. Zayn was thankful that he didn’t have to do this alone. He was glad that he had Harry by his side.

"Hi, I'm Harry and this handsome lad is Zayn." He said, gesturing to him and then to Zayn. He flashed the guards a charming smile. "I found our guest lost in the forest, so I thought I'd bring him to the castle to meet our king.”

Harry then looked at Zayn expectantly.

“Uh, yeah. I was lost in the forest until Harry here found me. So, here we are.”

They weren’t exactly the best actors but the guards seem to buy their little act, for they lowered their weapons.

"Zayn Malik, King Payne has been expecting you. You may enter." The guard on the right said.

Zayn was surprised. He didn't recall sharing his last name with anyone in Wonderland. He didn't even tell Harry. Zayn shrugged it off when the large doors opened. Harry winked at the other lad subtly. Zayn walked into the building first. He quickly turned around when he heard the sound of metal clashing. The guards had formed an 'x' with their spears in front of Harry, blocking his path into the castle.

"Harry Styles, you do not have an invitation. You may not enter." The guard on the left said.

"Oh, come on." Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The guards did not budge.

"Hey, it's cool. He's with me." Zayn said, putting a hand on the spears and lowering them down. "I'm not seeing the King without Harry."

The guards looked at each other and then at Harry, who raised his eyebrows.

"Well, you heard him." Harry said.

Zayn could tell that Harry was irritated from the familiar dark reddish gold that was slowly seeping into his green eyes. There was a moment of silence and then the spears went down again.

"Very well, an exception shall be made in order to accommodate the guest's request."

"Thank you." Zayn said with a nod.

He raised an eyebrow and held out his hand to the curly haired lad. Harry blinked and eyes began to change back to green. He took Zayn's hand and wordlessly followed behind him into the castle. When they were inside, the heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

The first thing that stood out to Zayn was how dark it was. The second thing was how there was no sign of life in the castle. There were no servants or guards; it was almost like they had stepped into a haunted house. The lights were dimmed and they flickered from time to time above their heads, which made the atmosphere all the more eerie.

"Spooky," Harry said with a low whistle. “The king should really invest in some lightbulbs.

Zayn turned to Harry and was startled by his eyes, which were glowing faintly in the dark.

"Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Harry said with a grin.

“Harry, the only things scary about you are your jokes and your acting.” 

“Heyyyy," Harry said in an offended tone. "I'll have you know that my jokes are hilarious and my brilliant acting got us in here.”

"Well, I did say you were brilliant earlier, babe." 

Harry's frown lifted into a little smile and Zayn poked his dimple.

"I bet the king would appreciate my jokes.” Harry said casually, picking up a nearby piece of pottery and inspecting it curiously.

"You should tell him some.” Zayn agreed. _They might just bore him to death,_ he thought. “So, this place is huge and no one’s around. How are we going to find this guy?"

A glowing arrow appeared on the floor and Zayn jumped backwards in surprise. He almost lost his footing, but Harry came up behind him and steadied him. Harry chuckled against Zayn’s neck in amusement and held him as they watched the arrows form one by one. The arrows made a trail down the long halls and stopped in front of a room with grand double doors.

"It looks like that answers your question." Harry said, releasing Zagn. He eyed the glowing arrows on the checkered, tiled floor. "The king's waiting for us behind those doors." 

"Good, let's get this over with." Zayn said.

He began to walk, but a gentle hold on his wrist stopped him.

"Wait, Zayn." Harry, who was still wearing Zayn's flower crown, pulled his top hat out from nowhere. "I want you to put this on."

"Your hat?" Zayn asked confusedly.

He nodded and set it on Zayn's head. When Harry pulled back, he tilted his head and pouted.

"How do you look good in everything?" Harry asked.

Zayn laughed. He mumbled 'quit it’, leaned in, and kiss Harry on the cheek.

"Flattery will get you anywhere." Zayn said, pulling away.

"Really?” Harry asked, intrigued. His eyes glowed brighter in the darkness. “Will it get me in your pants?"

The corner of Harry’s lips lifted into a smirk and eyes openly scanned Zayn's body before meeting his eyes. Zayn flushed and suddenly he was glad that the lighting was dim.

The two followed the markings. The hallway had paintings and portraits on the side but it was too dark to tell what they were. Zayn was interested and he would have used the flashlight app on his phone, but his phone had died along the way. Zayn and Harry reached the end of the halls and stopped in front of the double doors.

"Ready?" Zayn asked, gripping the handles.

"Ready." Harry confirmed.

 

* * *

 

Zayn pulled the doors open and the two stepped into the large room. It was difficult to see since the lighting was so dim. The doors close behind them, signaling that there was no going back. From where he stood, Zayn could make out a man with a crown on his head sitting on the throne at the end of the room. 

It was King Payne.

They came closer and stopped at the base of the steps that led up to the throne. Zayn was slightly surprised at the king's appearance. He was not as old as Zayn had thought he would be with his sandy brown hair, dark wide eyes and youthful face. Harry and Zayn stopped at the bottom of the steps that led to the throne. Harry bowed and Zayn mirrored him.

"Welcome to my castle, I've been expecting you." The king said. "I'm Liam Payne, King of Wonderland, but you already knew that didn't you?"

Zayn nodded.

"Your majesty," Harry said, standing upright. "I found our guest lost and wandering in the forest, so I brought him to see you."

"Please, call me Liam. Yes, the woods are quite confusing, aren't they? Especially for someone who is not from around here." Liam said, his eyebrows knitting.

"The forests are like a maze." Zayn said.

"Indeed. Thank you for bringing our guest to the castle, Harry." The king said. He set his cool gaze onto Zayn. "Tell me, how do you like Wonderland so far, Zayn?"

"It's nice, yeah. Different from LA, but I like it." Zayn answered truthfully.

"That's good to hear." Liam said with a kind smile. 

The king seemed nice enough, but something about him didn’t sit right with Zayn.

"Your majesty, I was told that you were looking for me?" Zayn asked.

"It's Liam," the King corrected. "And yes, I have. Harry, thank you again for bringing our guest here. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Zayn alone."

Harry's brows knitted. He opened his mouth to protest, but Zayn answered first.

"Actually, your majesty," Zayn said. "Whatever it is you want to say to me, you can say in front of Harry."

Zayn smiled at Harry, who returned it. Their little moment was quickly interrupted.

"Oh, what's this?" Liam asked in amusement, standing up from his seat on the throne. He paced around in front of the throne. His eyes moved back and forth from Zayn to Harry. "Your protectiveness of each other.. Is this love that I sense?"

Harry stepped in front of Zayn, shielding him from the king. He didn't like the way that Liam was looking at Zayn.

"Not to be rude, my lord, but I don't see how that's any of your concern." Harry said, his eyes flashing in the darkness.

The king’s smile faded.

"Please, I told you both to call me Liam."

The dark room lit up a startling blue and white. A bolt of lightning shot across the room directly at Zayn and Harry. The curly haired lad cursed and quickly pulled Zayn to the side. The lightning crackled behind them as they ran to hide behind one of the many pillars around the room. Zayn leaned his head back against the pillar, his chest rising and falling. They were out of the king's line of sight for now.

"This is not good." Harry said, breathing heavily.

"Did he just fucking shoot lightning from his hand?" Zayn asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I wasn't aware that he could do that." Harry replied.

"What is he? A wizard or something?” Zayn asked, the colour draining from his face. “Don't tell me he’s going to transform into a dragon and breathe fire next.”

“That’s quite plausible.” 

"This is great, yeah?" Zayn slowly sank to the floor. "The king has lost his marbles and he’s going to fry us any minute now.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “We can't hang hide behind here forever. We need a plan."

Harry crouched down across from Zayn. He closed his eyes in deep thought. When he opened them, he nodded at Zayn.

"I have a plan.” Harry said, his eyes shining.

“Oh baby, keep talking dirty to me.” Zayn said, sighing in relief. He looked up at the dark ceiling and silently thanked the Gods for Harry.

Harry gave Zayn an amused look and leaned into his personal space.

“Why, I’d love to, Zayn. I’ve been told I have a rather dirty mouth. I can't wait to show you how naughty and filthy my mouth can be.”

Harry licked his lips and stared the other lad down seductively. Even in the dark, Zayn was able to recognize the dark black-green colour of lust and desire that was pooling into Harry’s bright eyes. Zayn also felt a familiar pool of arousal stirring in him so his natural reaction was to slap Harry lightly across the face.

“Zayn, what the hell?!” Harry asked, jerking away and holding his cheek.

“What? Your words were turning me on. I had to ruin the mood somehow." Zayn said defensivey, spreading his arms.

"Mission accomplished.” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “Okay, back to our problem. The plan is risky, but we can definitely pull it off."

The room flashed blue again and the wall next to them was hit with a blast of lightning. Stone bricks went flying and hot blue flames licked up the walls.

"Can he fucking stop?” Zayn hissed. “Alright, let's hear the plan."

"Okay, did you notice the necklace around Liam’s neck?” Harry asked, drawing a little circle around the base of his neck with his finger.

Zayn thought back to the red necklace and then he nodded.

“Yeah, it was glowing the whole time. What about it?”

“It's enchanted.” Harry said. “The necklace is the source of his magic. If we can get the necklace, we can get to him."

"Sounds good," Zayn replied. "There's only one problem. His Royal Madness is all the way up where the throne is. How the hell are we supposed to get close to him without being turned to dust?"

Harry smirked. He had been expecting this question.

"The answer, my darling, is sitting right on top of your head."

Zayn gave the curly haired lad a perplexed look. He moved his hands up to his head.

 _That's right, I've been wearing Harry’s hat the whole time_ , he thought.

Harry’s hat, despite its height, was light as a feather, which was the reason why it had slipped Zayn's mind until now.

"Your hat is the answer?" Zayn repeated slowly.

Harry nodded.

"I'll distract the king while you sneak to the other side of the room. Hide behind a pillar close to the throne and wait for my cue. When I tell you to, you'll throw my hat at him. Got it?" Harry asked.

"Not sure how that will do anything, but I trust you, Harry." Zayn said.

Harry’s cupped Zayn’s cheek in his hand.

"Hey love, I won't let him hurt you." Harry said, his eyes searching Zayn’s in the dark.

"And I won't let him hurt you, Harry. Not if I can help it.” Zayn whispered, placing his hand over Harry’s.

Harry kissed him. He then left their hiding spot from behind the pillar. When Harry came into view, Liam smirked.

"Oh, I was beginning to think that you had perished back there."

"Sorry to disappoint.” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know what, Liam? It’s strange how you've closed yourself off in this castle without any servants. It's like you only use this place as a site to execute outsiders. Tell me, what exactly do you have against them?"

Liam laughed.

"That is quite the imagination you have there, Harry. Me, the King of Wonderland, executing visitors? That's preposterous.” Liam denied with a smile. “Is this the sort of lies you've been filling our guest’s head with?"

"You literally just tried to kill us with lightning a few moments ago." Harry reminded him.

"That was an accident." Liam said casually.

"Oh, and what about the second time?" Harry challenged, raising his eyebrows.

"My hand slipped." Liam shrugged. “Like this.”

He smiled cruelly and lifted his finger. A bolt of lightning shot at Harry, but he evaded it with ease.

"Right. Just so you know, you should really work on your acting." Harry said with a humourless smile. "Zayn, do it now!"

Zayn, who had managed to sneak behind a pillar on the other side of the room, jumped into the clear and threw the top hat at Liam. Zayn held his breath, his eyes trained on the object.

The hat cut through the air like a boomerang and landed onto the floor behind the King. Zayn felt his heart drop. He had one chance to throw the hat at Liam and he had missed. They were going to be executed. He had failed to protect Harry.

"Were you even aiming for me?” Liam asked in disbelief. “That was the worst throw ever."

"I beg to differ." A familiar voice said from behind Liam.

"Louis?!" Zayn exclaimed.

The hat had transformed into Louis, who was now standing behind the king. Zayn recognized the lad from the forest instantly. A million thoughts dashed through Zayn's mind. This must have been a part of Harry's elaborate plan. He honestly didn't give Harry enough credit. Louis had probably shape shifted into Harry’s hat at some point. Harry knew this, which was why he told Zayn to put his hat on before they entered the throne room. Zayn made a face since that technically meant that Louis was sitting on Zayn’s head the whole time. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he was glad to see a familiar face in the worse of times.

"How the did your hat turn into that fucking thing?" Liam demanded, pointing at Louis.

"Rude as fuck, mate. 'That fucking thing' has a name and he can shape shift, thank you very much." Louis remarked.

Liam glared at Zayn who shrugged.

"Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just as surprised as you.” Zayn said, shrugging.

"Louis, quick! Grab his necklace. It's his power source." Harry cut in.

Louis quickly ripped off the glowing red necklace around Liam’s neck. The lightning bolt Liam was channeling in his hand burned out. Liam’s face turned red with fury.

"You will all pay for this. I will have each and every one of your heads mounted on my wall." Liam snarled.

"No thanks. I quite like where my head is." Harry said, holding his head in his hands.

"You're fucking mad, mate." Zayn added.

Liam started to shudder and his scream pierced the air as smoke enveloped him.

"What's happening to him?" Zayn asked.

"The spell is wearing off; he's changing into his real form." Louis said from behind Zayn.

Zayn jumped and placed a hand over his chest.

"Fucking hell, Louis! What the did I tell you about teleporting?” Zayn snapped.

“To cut it out?" Louis asked, innocently.

“Exactly, so cut it out, you menace." Zayn warned.

"Oh Zayn, your hilarious reactions make my day though.” Louis said, smiling sweetly.

"I don't care. Just quit it before I have a heart attack." Zayn said, sighing exasperatedly. He shifted the conversation. "Cool trick, mate. I didn't know you could shape shift.” 

"Well, you never asked." Louis said, grinning. "I am a man of many talents. I can only shape shift into objects, though."

“So, does that mean you were with us the whole time?” 

“Yes, from the moment Harry placed the hat onto your head. For the record, I'd rather not do this again. There were moments where I felt like I was intruding on intimate and private moments. My poor eyes and sensitive ears still haven't recovered.” Louis said, looking accusingly from Zayn to Harry.

“We’ll make it up to you, Lou.” Harry said, joining the group. “You saved the day.”

“Alright boys, I’ll keep you both to your word.” Louis said. He directed his gaze to Liam, who was still enveloped by the clouds of smoke near the throne. He narrowed his blue eyes. “It seems like this fraud had all of Wonderland fooled. He was using his necklace to cast a transformation spell the whole time."

“So, he’s not the real king?” Zayn asked.

"No, but we're about to find out who it is." Harry answered grimly.

The trio watched in silence and held their breaths in anticipation as the true face of the king’s fake emerged. Harry’s eyes widened. The smoke cleared and he gasped. Harry recognized the imposter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses on who the imposter is? Hint: I didn't tag them to avoid spoiling the surprise. Thanks for reading and feedback is appreciated. :) PS. Credit for Harry's banana joke goes to Google.


End file.
